Court: No Evidence Georgia’s Election-Integrity Law Discriminates Against Black VotersBY: SHAWN FLEETWOOD
OCTOBER 12, 2023
A federal court struck down Democrats’ request for a preliminary injunction seeking to block provisions of Georgia’s election-integrity law on Wednesday, ruling that plaintiffs showed no evidence the statute discriminates against black voters.
Writing for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Judge J.P. Boulee ruled that in their lawsuit against Georgia state officials, the Biden administration and Democrat-affiliated groups “failed to show a substantial likelihood of success on the merits as to their claims that the provisions” of a Republican-backed election-integrity law “intentionally discriminate against black voters in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, Fifteenth Amendment and Section 2 of the [Voting Rights Act].”
Signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp in March 2021, SB 202 mandated voter ID for absentee voting and set rules against giving voters gifts or money within 150 feet of a polling place. The law also increased security around and limited the use of ballot drop boxes, tightened the time frame in which voters can request an absentee ballot before Election Day, and increased regulations around provisional ballots.
In their suit against Georgia’s leading officials, Democrats contended the aforementioned provisions intentionally discriminated against black voters. Regarding the law’s voter ID requirement for absentee voting, for example, plaintiffs claimed the provision “disproportionately impacts black voters” because the majority of registered Georgia voters without a valid driver’s license or identification card are black, and a larger percentage of black voters than white voters lack a valid ID.
In its Wednesday’s opinion, however, the district court dispelled Democrats’ argument that such statistical differences indicate an intent to discriminate. As Boulee noted, plaintiffs “presented no evidence that black registered voters fail to have the other acceptable forms of identification allowed by the statute at a statistically higher rate than white voters.”
“These other forms of identification include utility bills, bank statements, paychecks and other government documents that include a name and an address,” Boulee wrote. “Ultimately, without this additional evidence, the Court cannot find at this time that the Identification Provision has a disparate impact on black voters.”
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Source:
https://thefederalist.com/2023/10/12/court-no-evidence-georgias-election-integrity-law-discriminates-against-black-voters/
